We have been fellowshipping concerning the prayers of the first God-man made by Him in His humanity as the King-Savior in the kingdom of the heavens. All the prayers offered by the Lord in Matthew, Mark, and Luke—the synoptic Gospels—were made by Christ in His humanity. These prayers are in a different category from His prayer in John 17. This prayer was offered by the Lord after His discourse in John 14 through 16 concerning the union, mingling, and incorporation of the processed and consummated Triune God with His chosen and redeemed people. It was offered by Christ to God not in His humanity but in His divinity.
In this message we want to see three more cases of Christ’s prayer in the Gospel of Matthew. We need to see that these prayers are related to God’s will for the accomplishment of God’s economy.
In cursing the fig tree so that it instantly dried up, the first God-man taught His disciples how to pray by faith (Matt. 21:18-22; Mark 11:20-24).
The first God-man’s teaching here was according to God’s will to be accomplished for the fulfillment of His economy. Not many see that the Lord’s teaching on prayer is related to God’s economy, which is to be accomplished by His faithful people doing His will. The One who taught the disciples to pray by faith was the God-man, Christ. He is the only One who is absolutely right before God. To pray such a prayer we must be right persons doing God’s will. This is God’s will not in small matters, such as where we should move, but His great will for the accomplishment of God’s economy. Many Christians today use the term the will of God in a very shallow and light way. We should be those who are carrying out God’s will to accomplish God’s economy. God’s economy is to produce an organism for His good pleasure. Israel disappointed God in this matter, so God came to the church, hoping that the church would be His organism. Eventually, the church, generally speaking, has also failed God. What is the real will of God that we have to carry out? It is to take care of the producing and building up of God’s organism, which is the Body of Christ that will consummate the New Jerusalem.
The fig tree is a symbol of the nation of Israel (Jer. 24:2, 5, 8).
The nation of Israel lost her capacity in fulfilling God’s economy because of her rottenness. In Revelation 2, the Lord’s first epistle to the first church, at Ephesus, says that because the church there lost her capacity to shine forth the testimony of Jesus, the Lord would remove her lampstand (v. 5). The same thing occurred to Israel in the ancient time. Actually, Israel was a lampstand, established by God to stand on the whole earth to shine forth God’s testimony (Zech. 4:2), but she lost this capacity because of her rottenness.
Because the people of Israel’s condition of not bearing fruit but having only leaves still remained after the first God-man’s ministry among them, God intended to give them up (Matt. 21:33-43). The Lord ministered among them for three and a half years. No doubt, He was the top Minister and His ministry was the top ministry, but it had no effect on this nation chosen by God, so God intended to give them up. The Lord used a parable in Matthew 21:33-43 to tell them that the kingdom of God would be taken from them and given to a nation producing its fruit. This nation is the church.
The Lord Jesus, who is right in the eyes of God, knows God’s heart, so His cursing the fig tree was according to His knowledge of God’s will in the fulfillment of God’s economy to give up the rotten Israel (Matt. 21:19).